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Brokers wonder if the slowing of activity at the Port of Portland means bad things for the industrial real estate market.

The city’s industrial vacancy rate is expected to climb to 10.3 percent by the end of the year, according to Marcus & Millichap, with asking rents expected to recede by 4 percent to $5.23 per square foot. Brokers say high unemployment and sluggish port activity are to blame.

The Port of Portland has seen double-digit drops in container activity for nearly the first half of 2009. Total tonnage is down 39 percent from the beginning of ’09, while bulk steel has dropped by 59 percent and automobile shipments have dipped by 56 percent.